This toolkit was created to help land managers and decision makers:

  • Understand how climate is changing locally in southeast Michigan
  • Understand the implications of how this will affect our local forest and tree resources
  • Learn what we can do about anticipated climate change impacts on our trees and manage these resources for climate resiliency

Read the Fact Sheet: Impacts of Climate Change on Tree Species of Southeast Michigan

Toolkit contents

Primer on Climate Impacts and Resiliency Strategies to Tree Species of the Huron River Watershed: Presentation with narrative summarizing the content and products available within the Tree Resilience Toolkit. •Slides OnlySlides with Notes

Review of climate impacts to tree species of the Huron River watershed: Report covers local climate change, impacts to natural resources and an analysis of impacts to tree species native to southeast Michigan. •View Report

GLISA Climatologies summarize local climate change using historical weather data:

A review of management options for improving climate resiliency in the Huron River watershed’s forest and tree resources Management Strategies Report & Executive Summary

Annotated bibliography: Further reading regarding resiliency-based management options (see links to documents reviewed in this bibliography at the bottom of this page).

Climate Impacts to Tree Species is summarized in this table and detailed information on each species is available in individual fact sheets:

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Tree Response to Ecosystem Change at the Landscape Level in Eastern North America

  • Provides general overview of tree response to climate change
  • Tree responses are examined in four regions across the United States — the section on the “Great Lakes Region” is recommended for local land managers
  • Expected impacts on oak and red maple species are explored more in depth
  • Assisted migration as a resiliency strategy is discussed

Talking trees: An urban forestry toolkit for local governments

  • Detailed urban forestry toolkit targeted at local government
  • Not much information on how to manage for climate resilience but serves as a good guide for general urban forestry principles

Urban forest management plan

  • Detailed urban forest management plan written for the city of Baltimore, MD
  • Serves as a case study for writing management plans and describes anticipated challenges related to implementing proposed actions
  • The ecology behind the plan is based on the city of Baltimore which has a different climate and whose forest resources are drastically different than those of the Huron River Watershed. However, basic principles can still be gleaned from this report

Chicago climate action plan

  • Webpage dedicated to Chicago’s plans for climate change adaptation
  • Of interest: Adaptation report pdf
  • Of interest: “list of recommended trees” for Chicago’s changing climate

Tree planting standards

  • Discusses tree planting guidelines for the city of Columbus, OH

Urban forests: A climate adaptation guide

  • Probably the most comprehensive climate adaptation guide we found specifically written for urban forests
  • Some content is geographically specific to the Pacific Northwest, but most of the guide’s principles can be applied to the Huron River Watershed area
  • Provides a good overview of both the benefits that can be provided by urban trees and general principles with which to increase climate resiliency

Forest management for mitigation and adaptation to climate change: insights from long-term silviculture experiments

  • Analyzes five long-term silvicultural experiments within the Upper Great Lakes region to examine how different forestry management techniques effect the relationship between carbon storage and climate resiliency potential
  • Tradeoffs are observed between for each management strategy examined relating to carbon storage and climate resiliency
  • Management strategies generally differed with respect to stand age, stocking level, and stand-level structural and compositional complexity

Street tree inventory report: Concordia neighborhood

  • Local land managers should only read the brief section on “recommendations” in this report
  • Recommendations section provides a few useful suggestions on urban tree care

Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: a review of 22 years of recommendations

  • Comprehensive literature review written from more of an academic stance
  • Provides a strong list of “recommendation categories” with reviewed papers grouped into these categories
  • The recommendation categories are a mixture of both tangible and readily implementable management actions and categories that are more conceptual and don’t readily equate to tangible management options

Huron river report – climate change edition

  • Provides an overview of many expected impacts from climate change within the Huron River Watershed

Climate resilient communities: Review of climate impacts to tree species of the Huron river watershed

  • The central report associated with this toolkit
  • Provides an overview of expected impacts from climate change
  • Provides a series of tree range models that demonstrate the expected shifts in species populations caused by climate change. Models are included for 13 key tree species for the Huron River Watershed. Ranges are illustrated for current conditions and projections for the year 2100.

Local governments, extreme weather, and climate change 2012

  • Extensive fact sheeting featuring 21 cities across the U.S., the climate change impacts being felt by these communities, and how the local governments are responding to the increasing frequency and intensity of the associated extreme weather
  • Great for generating ideas for climate resilience policy and projects

The lawn: a history of an american obsession

  • Book discussing the landscaping preferences of Americans.

Potential consequences of climate variability and change for the forests of the United States

  • Study provides an overview of how carbon storage in US forests is expected to be impacted by climate change (includes model projections)
  • Study provides an economic analysis on the national effects of climate change for the timber industry and the outdoor recreation industry
  • Study also touches on anticipated major shifts in tree communities (includes model projections)

A city prepares for a warm long-term forecast

  • Newspaper article that provides case study of Chicago and its efforts to adapt to climate change
  • Section titled “Reconsidering the Trees” might be of particular interest

How Can Forest Management Adapt to Climate Change? Possibilities in Different Forestry Systems

  • This article focuses on the state of forest management adaptation to climate change in various European nations.
  • Few consistent management strategies are identified across the variety of countries in the study, but the article is good for demonstrating different approaches being utilized for climate change adaption across Europe

Climate and forest diseases of Western North America: a literature review

  • Literature review that discusses policy and management ideas for forest diseases as it relates to climate change
  • Focused on Western U.S. forest diseases

Management effectiveness evaluation in protected areas: a global study

  • Provides extensive guidance on choosing a methodogy for management effectivenss in protected areas
  • A selection of methodologies that have been used in different regions of the world are summarized
  • One methodology presented of particular interest is Conservation Action Planning by The Nature Conservancy

Michigan Department of Natural Resources: 2012 forest health highlights

  • Report focusing on the major pests and diseases affecting the health of Michigan forests
  • Report discusses progress being made in federal projects aimed at creating disease resistant tree cultivars (i.e. American Beech)

Federal advisory committee draft climate assessment

  • Webpage providing links to extremely thorough national climate assessment and development advisory report – 1100+ pages
  • Chapter 7: Forestry might be of particular interest, but entire report may be useful

Forestry CPR guidebook

  • Guidebook focused on urban forests
  • Examines how climate change will impact urban trees and how to improve climate resiliency in these resources
  • Provides recommendations on integrating anticipated climate change impacts into planning efforts
  • Provides a case study on King County, WA

Forestry CPR online training course

  • Link to the Forestry CPR (Climate Preparedness and Response) online training course for improving climate resiliency for tree species in urban areas

Forestry CPR webinar

  • Link to the Forestry CPR (Climate Preparedness and Response) webinar for improving climate resiliency for tree species in urban areas

Integrating climate change into forest management in South-Central British Columbia: an assessment of landscape vulnerability and development of a climate-smart framework

  • A comprehensive paper on developing climate resiliency in forests
  • A solid management framework is outlined to help account for climate uncertainties in the planning process for “climate-smart” forests
  • Many actions targeted at the reserve level are detailed
  • Vulnerabilities are modeled for a large forest and results are analyzed to demonstrate a detailed management planning framework from which climate smart management techniques can be applied

Sustaining america’s urban trees and forests

  • The most valuable content in this paper lies in the section titled “Tools for Cost-Effective Management” where a variety of digital and web-based tools and resources are discussed
  • Provides a brief overview of the state of urban forests in the U.S.
  • Briefly discusses the benefits of urban forests and the types of challenges facing urban forest health (this includes factors both related to, and not related to, climate change)

Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources

  • Extensive, multi-chapter literature review for a variety of climate sensitive ecosystems
  • Land managers should focus on Chapter 3: National Forests, which offers one of the best reads we found on managing for forest climate resiliency. Management strategies discussed range widely from long-term policy and planning to immediate on-the-ground management options.

Exploring biodiversity and climate change benefits of community-based forest management

  • Paper discusses the potential role of community-based forest management in more remote areas of India
  • Strategy may have limited applicability for community engagement in forest management in the Huron River Watershed

Street tree diversity in eastern North America and its potential for tree loss to exotic borers

  • Discusses the importance of diversifying urban trees species to combat high losses to pest insects

Tree choices: Native? non-native? invasive? the terms can be relative

  • Elaborates on the philosophies behind choosing native vs. non-native trees in urban settings

Climate change and forest diseases

  • Looks at the relationships between climate variables and forest diseases
  • Discusses four types of disease and forest management tactics – monitoring, forecasting, planning, and mitigation

Pests and diseases threatening urban trees under a changing climate

  • Review paper examines the relationships between climate change and forest pest insects/organisms and diseases
  • Specifically focused on urban tree populations based in Britain

United States Forest Service: How to prune trees

  • Guidebook on proper technique and sanitation practices for pruning trees.

Urban forests and climate change

  • CCRC webpage that discusses urban forests and carbon sequestration for mitigating climate change
  • Webpage provides links to an extensive list of publications on urban forest science, management strategies, inventory and monitoring techniques, and benefits